Our ICUs are staffed 24/7/365 by a team that includes board-certified neurointensivists, advance practice providers, neurocritical care fellows, and dedicated nurses with expertise in neurointensive care, stroke, and trauma. Our team also includes nutritionists, pharmacologists, respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists, and social workers. We work hand-in-hand with neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, traumatologists, stroke neurologists, palliative care and pain specialists, emergency physicians, and other medical specialists. By assembling this broad and diverse group of providers around the patient, we are able to provide the most expert, comprehensive, and holistic care possible.
Penn Neurocritical Care employs the latest advances in technology to individualize the care we provide to each patient. By using the latest tools, we are able to better understand each patient’s unique physiology and to tailor our therapy to their specific condition. These tools add a powerful dimension to the care we provide and help us to achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients. Examples of these technologies include brain tissue oxygen, cerebral blood flow, brain temperature, and intracranial pressure monitors, cerebral microdialysis, and continuous video electroencephalography (EEG).
We also believe strongly that family participation in the care process is therapeutic, both for the patient, and the family. We encourage family members to attend our daily rounds and to participate, by asking questions. We want our patients and their families to have a complete understanding of what is wrong and what treatments we are delivering.
One of our most important priorities is delivering safe care. To this end, we employ both time-tested and innovative strategies to maximize safety. We use proven methods, such as check lists and time outs for procedures and various therapies, and have standardized protocols in place that make transitions in care seamless.
Multiple sets of eyes are on all of our patients at all times, including an expert team of Penn intensivists and nurses from Penn E-Lert, who, in addition to our team, watch over our patients 24/7 remotely via telemedicine. We aim to ensure that no detail is overlooked, each and every time.